WORLD
Protests near Maldives Prez's house urging to send Gotabaya Rajapaksa back to Sri Lanka
President Rajapaksa fled the country for the Maldives early on Wednesday morning, along with his wife and two security officers amid mass scale protests against him in Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror reported.
Sri Lankan Police fire tear gas against protesters near PM's office
Protests so far on Wednesday around the state capital had been largely peaceful, with demonstrators chanting and giving speeches, the BBC reported. An enthusiastic crowd gathered in Galle Face Green early Wednesday morning. Chants of the popular phrase 'Aragalayata Jayawewa', or "Victory to the struggle" in Sinhalese -- which is commonly used at protests -- can be heard in the air, while some wave flags high in the air.
Pakistan facing serious problems as forex reserves deplete; Chinese loans taken at high rates
The country's external debt servicing rose to $10.886 billion in the first three quarters of 2021-22 compared to $13.38 billion in the entire FY-21, Dawn reported. It was just $1.653 billion in 1QFY22 against $3.51billion in the first quarter of 2020-21. However, the debt servicing jumped to $4.357 billion in 2QFY22 and further to $4.875 billion in 3QFY22.
Newer Omicron subvariants account for over 80% new infections in the US
The BA.5 subvariant accounted for 65 per cent of new infections in the latest week ending July 9, while BA.4 accounted for 16.3 per cent of new infections, CDC data showed on Tuesday.
Twitter employee reveals Trump tweets incited Capitol Hill violence
Twitter later permanently suspended Trump's account due to the risk of further incitement of violence, which is still banned. The Verge reported late on Tuesday that the employee, whose identity remains anonymous, pointed to a December 19th tweet from Trump, which asked his supporters to join him in "protest" of the 2020 election results.
8 contenders in race to succeed Boris Johnson as UK PM
The eight contenders who successfully enlisted the required backing of at least 20 Conservative lawmakers are: Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak; Foreign Secretary Liz Truss; International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt; backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat; Attorney General Suella Braverman; newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi; former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch; and former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
UNGA pushes UNSC reform negotiations to next session; India looks at alternatives
The Assembly unanimously decided on Tuesday to continue in the session that begins in September the process known as the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) that began in 2009 but has been stymied by a vocal group of countries opposed primarily to adding permanent members to the Council,
Three-pronged battle for next Sri Lankan President
The Presidential post fell vacant prematurely in Sri Lankan history on one occasion -- the assassination of President R. Premadasa on May 1, 1993 . It is now slated to be vacant after the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as already announced by him, the Daily Mirror reported. Parliament will take a secret ballot on July 20 to elect the new President.
Covid-19 pandemic 'nowhere near over': WHO
According to Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, the recent increase in the number of newly reported Covid-19 cases has been largely driven by Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, and by the lifting of public health and social measures. Recent changes in testing policies have also been hindering the detection of new cases and the monitoring of the evolution of the virus, he said.
Ukraine joins NATO's programme of technological cooperation
According to the ministry, the associate membership in the MIP gives Ukraine a right to join the development and introduction of key NATO standards related to the interaction of combat control systems and related practices, Xinhua news agency reported. The MIP is a program of technological cooperation between the Armed Forces of NATO member states, which was established at the level of national developers of combat control information systems and aims to achieve interoperability of national C2IS systems.
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